Build an E-Commerce Website with WordPress

With various easy-to-use online platforms and tools now available, it isn’t that hard anymore to start your own online store. Now you don’t have to find online listings or get your products to big online stores like Amazon and eBay in order to sell your items through the Internet.

With the help of WordPress and WooCommerce, you can easily set up an e-commerce website, even if you have little or no knowledge at all in how to start one. Creative Market provides a quick guide to launching an online store using WordPress. For this step by step guide, WooCommerce plugin is used. There are also other WordPress plugins available for e-commerce websites, but WooCommerce is free and is one of the most popular options.

Select a WooCommerce Theme

Aside from choosing the one that looks professional, it is also important to choose the WooCommerce theme that will go well with the category of your product. If you are selling apparel for men and women, it is best to go with a clean looking theme with a basic color scheme that is neither too feminine nor too masculine. For an online store that sells flowers or is under the arts and crafts category, a soft color scheme will work. Although there are a lot of free themes, it is ideal to purchase a premium one to keep updated with WordPress security patches.

Install WooCommerce

After selecting a WooCommerce theme, install WooCommerce to your WordPress site. This can be done either by uploading the plugin files directly to your theme’s ‘Plugins’ folder via FTP, or by searching for the plugin through the WordPress dashboard. If installing via WordPress dashboard, all you need to do is go to Plugins > Add New, and then from there look for ‘WooCommerce’ then select ‘Install Now’ and ‘Activate Plugin’ when done. A confirmation message, ‘Welcome to WooCommerce’, will appear to let you know that the installation is successful. There will also be WooCommerce section on your dashboard after installing.

Customize

Now you can start customizing WooCommerce for your online store. From simple to complex customization, WooCommerce allows you to tweak the plugin any way you prefer, to make the most out of your e-commerce website. Some of the options you can configure include your location, currency options, your products, tax, checkout options, shipping, user accounts, emails, to name a few.

Add Your Products

Once you’re done configuring your WooCommerce settings, you can now add your products. If you’re already familiar with adding content to CMS, including WordPress, then adding a new product is as easy as adding a new blog post. Start adding your products by entering the product name and description. Then add other product details such as images, shipping requirements, colors and sizes when applicable, categories and tags.

Launch Your Online Store!

Your online store is now ready to go live and be launched. Promote your URL to your social media accounts to gain awareness. Give it a few weeks to observe your online store’s performance. Sometime after your e-commerce website goes live, choose from the reporting options in the WooCommerce > Reports menu to track which of your products are popular and which aren’t selling. The reports can help you create strategy and customize your online store to get better results.

Have you tried or are you running your own online store? Tell us about it! Are you also using WordPress or a different platform? Would you like to give any tips? Leave us a comment below!

If you want to setup your own website or online store and would like to learn more about it, don’t hesitate to contact MicroCreatives. Our knowledgeable and skilled web developers will be glad to help you out.